“wendy doniger”

Hinduism does not lend itself easily to a chronological account; its central tenets—karma, dharma, to name just two—arise at particular moments in Indian history and differ in each era, between genders, and caste to caste; and what is shared among Hindus is outnumbered by the things that... More

The earliest of the four Hindu religious scriptures known as the Vedas, and the first extensive composition to survive in any Indo-European language, "The Rig Veda" (c. 1200a900 bc) is a collection of more than 1,000 individual Sanskrit hymns. A work of intricate beauty, it provides unique insight i... More

Recorded in sacred Sanskrit texts, including the Rig Veda and the Mahabharata, Hindu Myths are thought to date back as far as the tenth century BCE. Here in these seventy-five seminal myths are the many incarnations of Vishnu, who saves mankind from destruction, and the mischievous child Krishna, al... More

These tales of Hindu gods and demons express in vivid symbols the metaphysical insights of ancient Indian priests and poets. This selection and translation of seventy-five seminal myths spans the wide range of classical Indian sources, from the serpent-slaying Indra of the Vedas (c. 1200 BC) to ... More

Many cultures have myths about self-imitation, stories about people who pretend to be someone else pretending to be them, in effect masquerading as themselves. This great theme, in literature and in life, tells us that people put on masks to discover who they really are under the masks they usually ... More

Hindu and Greek mythologies teem with stories of women and men who are doubled, who double themselves, who are seduced by gods doubling as mortals, whose bodies are split or divided. In "Splitting the Difference," the renowned scholar of mythology Wendy Doniger recounts and compares a vast range of ... More

"Somehow I woke up one day and found myself in bed with a stranger." Meant literally or figuratively, this statement describes one of the best-known plots in world mythology and popular storytelling. In a tour that runs from Shakespeare to Hollywood and from Abraham Lincoln to Casanova, the erudite ... More

This spirited, enlightened book offers a powerful antidote to the paralysis of postmodern intellectual life, showing how to make sense of, and learn from, the extraordinary diversity of cultures past and present.At this time of heightened political sensitivities, it may seem impossible to make serio... More

Sanskrit hymns from the timeless world of myth and ritual The Rig Veda (c. 1200-900 BC), a collection of more than 1,000 hymns, represents the first extensive composition in any Indo-European language. Fraught with paradox, the hymns are meant to ‘puzzle, to surprise, to trouble the mind’, write... More